Oro Valley commissioners favor preparing a recommendation for a one‑time stormwater rate increase

Stormwater utility staff presented three options for future rate adjustments and the commission offered guidance favoring a single, one‑time increase to shore up reserves and fund capital projects.

Richard Spiker told the Stormwater Utility Commission that the packet included three scenarios to meet the utility’s 15% reserve policy: a variable phased approach that could require multiple council hearings, a schedule of smaller adjustments every two years, and a single one‑time increase he characterized as the staff recommendation. He said the last rate change was in 2016 (from $2.90 to $4.50 per equivalent residential unit, or ERU) and showed a 10‑year revenue and project forecast under each scenario.

Spiker described the recommended Scenario 3 as a $2 per ERU one‑time increase to move the fee from $4.50 to $6.50. He said that would equate to about $24 per year — roughly $2 per month — for a typical single ERU residential account and would allow the utility to fund both operations and planned capital projects earlier in the forecast window. Spiker and the packet listed priority projects that the additional revenue would support, including Sierra Wash improvements (roughly $280,000 at Via Mandarina), dredging and sediment management in tributaries (an approximate $460,000 Carmack‑area estimate), a multi‑year Mutter’s Wash program (about $500,000 across fiscal years), and targeted bank‑protection work such as a $300,000 improvement at Oro Valley Country Club.

Commissioners and council representatives at the meeting discussed trade‑offs. One commissioner cautioned that a one‑time $2 increase represented a significant percentage rise for ratepayers; Dr. Green and several commissioners said they preferred the single increase over repeated trips to council. Chair Crocker described the commission’s current position as guidance to staff rather than a formal motion: staff will prepare the materials, including photos, cost backup and a public‑hearing schedule, before making a formal recommendation to town council.

Spiker said staff will return with additional backup documentation and visual materials to help justify project prioritization and to support an eventual public hearing and council decision. No formal motion to set a rate was made at the meeting.

Action items taken during the session were procedural: the commission approved the April 2024 minutes by voice vote and later moved to adjourn.